Merry holiday of sports

Oh, what a celebration of sports! What beautiful gold medals, as well as silver and bronze! What wonderful athletes and sportswomen! How fun and festive it is at this wonderful Olympics in such a beautiful capital of a hospitable billion-dollar state. And let those who want to interfere with our fun with their whining about the infringed rights of Chinese citizens shut up. Let those who want to ruin our mood with their boring stories about the torture, violence and death that reigns around us, be silent. Don't stop us from having fun, monsters! Today is our holiday!

For example, on August 18, 18 sets of medals were competed for at the Olympics: in triathlon and volleyball, handball and track cycling, tennis and basketball, track and field and equestrian sports. Even one Russian woman received a medal for pole vaulting. Oh, if only those who were shot that day by Chinese soldiers in the Kham region in eastern Tibet could jump like that. Maybe someone would have been saved.

They came out on August 18 for a peaceful demonstration for Tibetan independence. “The Chinese army fired directly into the crowd,” the Dalai Lama, who is visiting France, told Le Monde newspaper. “People were killed right during the Olympics.” Of course, such a “trifle” cannot spoil a real sports festival. The next day, another 20 sets of medals were awarded, and a total of 302 medals for the Olympics. This, you see, is already serious.

The Dalai Lama spoke about the details of the March incident in the capital of Tibet, Lhasa. According to official data, 18 local residents and one police officer became victims of street clashes. However, according to the Dalai Lama, there were many more victims. “Reliable sources say that 400 people were killed in Lhasa alone,” he said. “Fire was opened on them, despite the fact that the Tibetans acted without weapons. And the families of the victims will never even be able to see their bodies.” All these messages greatly irritate the hosts of the Olympics. Following the traditions of Chinese hospitality in their communist version, they try to protect foreign guests from such information.

On July 30, the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPF) (Falun Gong is a Chinese religious movement - A.P.) published a report entitled “Torture around the Olympic Village. A Guide to Chinese Labor Camps. This guide contained detailed information about the detention centers located several miles from the Olympic complex. On August 3, another “Journalist's Guide to the Places of the Persecution of Falun Gong in Beijing” was published. The guide highlighted the stories of several people who were brutally tortured in forced labor camps and prisons located near Beijing. All of them died as a result of torture.

Immediately after the publication of these guides, prisoners convicted of belonging to Falun Gong began to be removed from Beijing by Chinese authorities. Away from curious Western journalists. According to reliable sources, many prisoners were transferred to the Shanxi Men's and Women's Forced Labor Camps, while others were sent to the Inner Mongolia region.

According to other information received, Chinese authorities place people who claim to have "renounced" Falun Gong in Beijing detention centers and prisons, where they are generally treated very well, and then are given the opportunity to be interviewed by foreign correspondents.

Chinese authorities have used this type of “show tour” before to mislead Western correspondents. They probably learned this from their Soviet brethren, who had achieved perfection in building “Potemkin villages” and pulling the wool over the eyes of gullible Western journalists.

Here is a story worthy of the chapter “Buddha’s Smile” from Solzhenitsyn’s novel “In the First Circle.” In April 2001, it was reported that the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Liaoning Province was among several facilities prepared to receive foreign and Chinese journalists who would be allowed to interview “Falun Gong followers.” A month later, reporters were invited to visit the camp. Journalists saw freshly painted walls and prisoners dressed in new overalls. Each one had a name written on their back, not only in Chinese, but also in English (it was unclear why it was necessary to write the names of prisoners in English in a Chinese labor camp). It looked as if the prisoners were completely happy with their lives and enjoyed a clean and healthy environment.

All this against the backdrop of horrific abuses reported by hundreds of former prisoners who were subjected to extreme torture at the Masanjia camp.

In the construction of the great Chinese wall, separating events and journalists, the communists from the Middle Kingdom have achieved significant success. Here is a small selection made by Human Rights Watch regarding the persecution of foreign journalists at the beginning of the Olympics and the days leading up to it.

August 4th . A group of police and security guards forcibly seized a Hong Kong journalist's camera while he and a group of foreign journalists were interviewing witnesses to an attack on border police in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, the previous day.

August 5th . Paramilitary forces in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, attacked and wounded Tokyo newspaper Chunichi Sports photographer Massami Kawakita and Nippon Television Network reporter Shinji Katsuta, who were reporting on the violence that killed 16 police officers in the city the previous day. They were forcibly taken off the street, beaten and their equipment was damaged.

August 6 . Police captured and detained ESPN producer Artie Berko as he tried to film a protest sign outside the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing.

August 7 . The Chinese government has denied a visa to Free Asia Tibetan radio announcer Dhondup Gonzar, a US citizen who has already received accreditation to cover the Beijing Olympics.

And here is the beginning of the Olympics.

August 8 . In Yining, Xinjiang province, police detained an Associated Press journalist and photo reporter for 45 minutes. They were prohibited from using their mobile phones and had their photographs taken and deleted from the press photographer's camera.

August 11 . British photographer for The Times newspaper Jack Hill was detained in Kukwa, Xinjiang province, in an attempt to cover up the consequences of deadly bombings in the city. Police said Hill's travel documents were incorrect. He was released only after a colleague asked at a press conference in Beijing a day later about the justice of Hill's detention.

August 13th . John Ray, a correspondent for Britain's ITN, was arrested while reporting on a small protest outside the Bird's Nest stadium. Ray said he was "tied up, thrown to the floor and kicked until he was in the back of a police car."

This is how Chinese authorities protect Western journalists from unwanted information, or, more precisely, unwanted information from Western journalists. Those who remember Soviet times will easily understand - if they treat Western journalists this way, then what are they doing to their own citizens!

Unfortunately, not many people are interested in this. It is much more exciting to watch sports competitions, argue about the advantages and disadvantages of Russian, American or Chinese sports, listen to the jingling of gold medals on the chests of athletes and learn the words of the national anthem of the Olympic winners. And no remorse, moral worries or other intellectual complexes for you. Complete moral dullness is the key to physical health and future Olympic victories!